A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

267

Such work gives a standard for both oral and written work. Cooperative compositions should be followed by independent work on similar
topics.
ORAL AND WRITTEN WORK.-Much more oral work than written
work is advocated for the primary grades. In the Philippines oral
work should receive even greater emphasis than in places where the
native language is the medium of instruction. Suggestions for the oral
treatment of many topics have already been given. When written
work is required it should always be preceded by oral work. Definite
points for the children to keep in mind as they write should be recalled
before writing is attempted. Spelling and writing difficulties should
have been anticipated. Standards of written work must be carefully
developed with the teacher before independent seatwork in written language is attempted by the children. Much written language work done
as seatwork was observed and many sets of work collected. Careful
examination of the papers showed that little of value was accomplished.
In fact bad habits in the technique of written language were developed.
SPELLING
In no subject of the curriculum has there been such marked progress
in adapting the material to social use as in spelling. In the United
States scores of investigations have been conducted during the past
fifteen years to determine precisely which words people use in writing
and correspondingly which words children should learn to spell.
In the Philippine primary schools, a beginning has already been made
in the direction of utilizing the results of American investigations. One
original study along the same lines has also been made in the Philippine
Normal School. This work is to be heartily commended as a tendency
distinctly in the direction that progressive education everywhere is beginning to take.
More studies need to be made, however. The spelling needs of the
Filipino children are not identical with those of the children living in
America. The things which they talk and write are not the same due
to living in a different environment; therefore, the spelling requirements
of the two will not be identical. It is important therefore that the Bureau should set in motion continuous studies of curriculum materials with
a view to constructing a spelling course that is properly fitted to the
writing needs of Filipino children. This work should be carried on in
the curriculum section of the Academic Division.
While the results of the tests show that on the whole satisfactory results in spelling are being obtained, observations in the classroom revealed certain points in the teaching of spelling which if called to the